Question, Image, Directive: A Working Theory of Intention Against a Running Pattern

Against a pattern already running, this note makes three claims. First, a registered signal occasions the question that starts an intention and gets no vote on the answer: "I'll do it when I feel ready" leaves the hour to the feeling. Second, the question of grain comes before the name: the template fires on the bark, not the dog, and a wish such as "get over my fear" is not a directive that can take an hour. Third, the correction is deliberate and runs across occasions: within-action models correct an act as it unfolds and predictive accounts correct behavior automatically, while here a person revises the picture of what sets the pattern off and the next firing tests it. From these follow when a decision stays decided, how an intention can stay decided while the old pattern still wins most of the moments, how conflicting pulls are resolved, and how the steps meet Bratman's norms without reducing them. A revision test states how the main claim could fail: after a mismatch, people who revise the picture should outperform people who keep the first one.